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Chapter Text

"Cue victory music!" The Jokester yelled as he snatched the device out of Owlman's hand. Lex Luthor's Justice League had successfully thwarted another one of Owlman's schemes, and they were wrapping things up very nicely. Luthor crossed his arms and sighed. 

"No, you imbecile! That could erase our entire existence!" Owlman shouted. 

Jokester removed his hand from the dial and put his gloved hand to his mouth. "Whoops! Silly me!" The clown took a second look, though, and turned the dial with a mischievous grin on his face. 

"No, what are you doing?!" Owlman asked in shock. 

"I see you created another universe while I wasn't looking. A place to hide your darkest most devious weapons, perhaps? Clever clever, Owlet! Let's see where it leads to," Jokester said with a wicked grin on his face. Luthor put a hand out, signaling him to stop and think about what he was doing. Lex didn't make a serious attempt to stop him, though. 

Owlman looked at Luthor with pleading eyes under the cowl. "Aren't you going to stop him?!" the Owl begged. Lex Luther grinned evilly and then said, "no." 

"Ha ha ha! That's the spirit, Lex! Now, let's see, I just need to configure these settings, and...done!" Jokester smashed the button triumphantly before pinning the device on Owlman's chest. "Let's see what fun little surprises you left us, shall we?"  

"Oh no you don't, clown. If I have to go to that nightmare universe, you're going with me!" Owlman said as he grabbed Jokester by the collar. The clown yelped and thrashed as the light surrounded them. "Lex! A little help?!" Jokester cried. Luthor moved to rescue his friend, but the Owl and the clown were gone before he could take more than two steps. Luthor ran to the control panel. The light that indicated their location faded into darkness. 

"It's going to take weeks to get him back here, and that's if I can avoid the Crime Syndicate long enough to fix the machine," Luthor said. 

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"Boom!" A loud crash of thunder sounded outside, jolting Thomas Wayne Jr. awake. He had that strange dream again, the clown. What did it all mean? Thomas relaxed in his cell. His memory was a little fuzzy, but he blamed it on the medication. He didn't remember exactly who he was. All he remembered was living in Wayne Manor at one point. 

There was a knock on his cell. "Breakfast time," a nurse trilled. Thomas shook himself awake to look at the tray of cold oatmeal and eggs. Carefully and daintily, he took a fork and attempted to eat it. The cold pasty oatmeal stuck to his tongue and made him want to vomit. He swallowed the tasteless oat paste and then stuck out his tongue in disgust. He didn't remember much, but he knew he'd never eaten food this terrible before, even though he somehow woke up here. Was he actually supposed to be a patient in this mental hospital or was it all a mistake? 

"Excuse me, miss, can you tell me my commitment date?" Thomas asked. He noticed his voice sounded high-pitched and a bit squeaky. Something was very wrong; he just knew it. 

"Your what?" the nurse asked, a bit taken aback by his lucidness. 

"My commitment date, when I was brought here, and for what," Thomas Wayne Jr. asked. He noticed that high-pitched voice again. It was like it belonged to a...little boy? Thomas froze as he saw his reflection from a mirror. A boy of about fifteen was staring back at him. That couldn't be him, could it? He faced the mirror completely and felt his face and body with his hands, half-expecting them to belong to someone else. To his shock, though, they moved with him, confirming they were part of his reflection. A split-second image of the clown flashed into his memory. "That son of a bitch," Thomas Wayne Jr. whispered. No sooner had he gotten the memory and whispered his anger did he get an overpowering headache. He crouched on the floor and clutched his knees, waiting for the pain to subside. It's like whatever that...memory...was, it didn't belong. The feeling was disconcerting, yet somehow familiar. As unbelievable as it sounded to his current mind, he'd done something like this before; he just knew it. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

The Owl and the Clowns 

The Earth 3 Joker traps Owlman and sends him to another dimension as punishment for past wrongs. The Owl, however, grabs the Jokester at the last minute and takes him with him. Thomas Wayne Jr. wakes up in an asylum. Once he gets his bearings and memories back, he decides he needs to make an escape. 

Meanwhile, Jokester wakes up in a dreary old graveyard, promptly brushes himself off, and goes to the local library to do research on this new universe. Even though he's younger, too, he's still an adult, in probably his early twenties. His mind reminds him to check on Owlman, but he decides that if the Owl is causing trouble, he'll probably be the first to hear about it. Briefly, he contemplates whether or not he should find Owlman and help him back to his universe, but he quickly decides that leaving him is best and begins searching for his own way home, while picking up tidbits of information from old newspaper headlines. 

During his research, Jokester remembers Alfred Pennyworth, the Waynes' butler has a lot of interesting special experiences and may be the man to talk to if he wants to figure out if there are any inter-dimensional portals around here. 

He also does some random research and discovers that Harley's alive, but much younger in this universe. Part of him thinks about staying just for her. 

Chapter 2 

Pennyworth 

Bruce decides to play detective with Alfred, and their game comes to a halt when Jokester, without his makeup and healed of his physical scars, because apparently that little episode where Thomas Wayne Jr. wounds him with an owl-shaped shuriken hasn't happened in this universe, meets Bruce and Alfred at the door. Sensing something off about the stranger, Alfred leaves Bruce in the study. Jokester's a decent conman, but Alfred senses there's something off right away and threatens to call the police on him for trespassing, so Jokester ends up telling him the truth. 

Alfred reads his body language and then raises an eyebrow in suspicion, but then simply explains that he doesn't know of any inter-dimensional portals and dismisses him.  

Chapter 3 

Bruce and Selina 

The next day, Selina Kyle sneaks into Bruce's room and the two spend some time together and talk about their pasts. 

Chapter 4 

Harley and Ivy 

Pam Isley, who calls herself Ivy Pepper because it reminds her of plants, sounds cute, and conceals her true identity, meets up with a half-starved, bruised and beaten little girl. She promptly uses her plants to help heal her and lets her rest in her bed. When she comes to, the girl introduces herself as Harley Quinn. She explains that she ran away to Gotham to get away from her abusive father and narcissistic mother. Ivy nurses her back to health. Harley starts calling her Red because of her red hair. 

Ivy confides in Harley that she usually doesn't like people. They confuse her, and she only has a few friends. Harley tells her that she's smart for avoiding people, and Ivy holds her hand and tells her that she's different before pecking her on the cheek. 

Chapter 5 

The Valeska Twins 

We get a peek into the lives of sixteen-year-olds Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska. Jerome, while tormenting his brother to cope with how their mother treats them, breaths an experimental gas his brother, who got admitted into Gotham University early, is working on. From then on, Jeremiah notices many strange changes in his brother's behavior; he was always a bit psychopathic, but he becomes much more violent and impulsive. One day, Jeremiah finds their mother dead, and he suspects Jerome so decides to call the GCPD and report the murder.    

Chapter 6 

Jack Napier 

Teenage Jack is already working as a hit man for the Valestra mob when he decides the Valeska twins might be perfect recruits for the gang's dealings. Right now, Jerome is just a rebel who is thirsty for fame, a performer without an audience, and his brother seems like someone of no consequence, but he's really smart. Plus, Jack wants to escape and live a normal life. If he can find a replacement, maybe that will be possible.